My Music Business class was first told about this end of school show when we started Block Two at the beginning of the year. We were told that the show was going to be all about The Beatles because 2013 is the 50th anniversary of the release of the very first Beatles album "Please Please Me" and that we would be involved in organizing it.
All the performers were either a student on the NC, HNC or HND Music course and the students who organized the event were members of HNC or HND Music Business. HNC and HND Sound Production students were helping out with the sound system on the night. Also, people from James Watt College TV courses were filming the show for Inverclyde TV. The Art Department were involved in creating all the artwork and Hair and Make-Up departments had a huge role to play on the night when they worked their magic for our students to look like popstars on stage!
Everyone in my class were assigned a couple of Music Performance students to "manage" at the start of the year, who we would talk to on a regular basis to see how rehearsals were going for the show and to basically be there for them leading upto their performances on stage on the night. This was a great way of mixing with students that we never had the opportunity to work with before.
While everyone was doing that job, a few of my classmates were assigned other jobs too. I was in charge of the table plans on the night, which wasn't an easy task! I worked alongside my lecturer on this because it dealt with alot of the friends and families of the Music Performance students who I didn't know. We had to make sure that all the performance students had sold their bundle of tickets for the night or at least given back the tickets they couldn't sell. Once we had their ticket money and/or leftover tickets, my lecturer David and I began to get the names of all the people who were coming to see a particular musician so that we could make a table up for them on the Town Hall floor. Staff and special guests of James Watt College were invited to sit downstairs on the floor at tables too. It was arranged that there would be 30 tables of 10 people (or 11-12 people at a push). However, nearer the day of the concert we had to arrange for some of the musician's families to sit up in the balcony instead.
Once all the Floor Ticket Holder names were recorded, then it was time to start putting the table plans together using a spreadsheet. David and I tried our best to keep families and friends together, and if there was a big table, we just put some of those people to another table with at least one person they knew on it.
Instead of numbering the tables 1-30, David had the great idea of giving each table a name which was related to The Beatles eg. Please Please Me or The Cavern. So once those 30 tables were named, a 7-inch vinyl record with the name labelled on it and was placed on a stand on each table. Once that was done, a team of my classmates helped me to do the next task which was to label individual vinyl records.
The day before the show, we all went into the Town Hall to start making up these individual records (this will all make sense later, I promise!) David had a bundle of 300 old 7-inch vinyl records, and our job was to stick labels on them relating to the table names and then make up record sleeves which would then have a space for a guest's name who was to sit downstairs.
The plan on the night was for all the balcony guests to head straight upstairs to their seat, while the 300 floor guests were to look through an old record box in the foyer, find their name on a record which then told them which table they were to sit at.
This job could only be started and completed once we had the final names of the floor guests, so the majority of this task was done on the day of the show. I've got to admit that I was stressed out by the time the doors opened for guests to arrive! I had been there since lunchtime of that day to get everything completed which was probably the best thing to do in the end because I would have had to rush it later on, which could have resulted in me making mistakes.
Once that job was done and dusted (finally!), it was 6pm and doors opened for special guests at 6.30pm. By that point, a few of my classmates came back to the Town Hall after going home for dinner and to get changed, so then it was time to get a wee pep talk from David and be assigned more tasks for the evening.
My classmate Luke and I were on the Box Office in the Foyer which was busy! Whilst my other classmates were either in charge of the Record Box, Ticket Collecting, Stewards and even being Bouncers! Emma, Scott and Victoria who were managing the night were going around checking everyone was okay and doing last minute jobs.
By the time the show started at 7.30, things began to calm down for us and it was our time to chill out and enjoy the show by 8pm.
The show was a great success and I'm so chuffed that I was part of it, even though I wasn't necessarily involved with being on stage! Even though it was pretty stressful at times, it was well worth it in the end. I had a great night and I'm sure all my classmates, lecturers and the public would agree!
